The sharp, stinging pain spread through her chest as the world around her faded to black. In the distance, she could hear him, her one true love, calling for her.

"Olivia! Liv, NO!" Elliot cried as he raced to where she lay bleeding out on the warehouse floor. He reached her side in a matter of seconds and knelt beside her gathering her in his arms. "Liv, please, I need you. You can't leave me, just hang on, help is on the way," he murmured into her hair as he continued to hold his partner and best friend close.

It took all her effort to give him the response she knew he desperately wanted and when she finally managed to speak all that came out was a barely audible, "El…", but for him it was music to his ears. In that instant he knew that the woman he loved, the strongest woman he knew, was going to be okay.

Several hours later, the members of the 1-6, along with Casey, Alex, Melinda, and the entire Stabler family, had joined Elliot in the hospital's waiting room anxiously waiting for any news on how Olivia's surgery was progressing. Suddenly, Elliot stood up and walked out of the room and then out of the hospital.

"What was that?" Casey asked the group.

"Daddy's been trying to find the right time to tell Liv that he loves her, but hasn't yet, and now he's scared he won't get to," Lizzie Stabler answered and was immediately greeted by several shocked faces.

"Oh, come on like you guys didn't know. It's so completely obvious that they are in love with each other. They just refuse to admit it to themselves and each other," Elliot's ex-wife, Kathy interjected.

Elliot and Olivia's friends continued to stare blankly at the Stabler clan, until finally Alex spoke up, "I think we all suspected something, but nothing to the magnitude."

"I think we need to know exactly what's going on and what happened out there today," Captain Cragen said as he stood up and followed in Elliot's footsteps.

Cragen found Elliot a few minutes later, outside, leaning against the wall of the hospital, with his head in his hands.

"Elliot?"

Stabler glanced toward the Captain before staring straight ahead.

"I have to ask, Elliot, what happened out there today?"

"We were following the suspect, hoping he'd lead us to the girl, and he did. We followed him into the warehouse, I was right behind her, this shouldn't have happened," he paused. "We were right behind him, we could hear him talking to his buddies and she rounded the corner a second before me, identifying herself at the same time. We were going to get these guys, we had them." Cragen nodded, silently urging Elliot to continue. "She didn't even make it around the corner before one of them started shooting and the other two took off running. She shot at the original shooter and he went down, he was dead, then we both took off after the others. We should've stayed together, but we didn't. I found one of the runners and arrested them, I was handing him off to one of the uniforms, when I heard the gunshots and her scream. I ran to her, but by the time I got there she was unconscious, there was blood everywhere, and the shooter was nowhere to be seen. I didn't find out until later that a uniform had tackled him right after he shot Liv and arrested him. I guess you know the rest."

Cragen nodded, "Yea…"

They were both silent for a few minutes.

"What about what your family just told me, what's going on between you and Benson?"

"Officially, nothing."

"And unofficially?"

"Unofficially, I love her. I was just too scared to tell her and now I may have lost my chance."

"Hmmm, I don't think you've lost your chance, I have a feeling Benson's stronger than any of us probably realize. When she wakes up though, don't put it off any longer, you're just wasting time."

"Thanks Cap."

"You're welcome. Now, we should probably get back inside."

Finally, a doctor walked into the room. "Family of Olivia Benson?"

Thirteen people stood up and approached, including little Eli, who was awake even though it was now close to 3:00 in the morning.

"You're all family?"

"Yes," Elliot replied with more force than was necessary.

"Okay then, Miss Benson did amazingly well in surgery. We're expecting her to make a full recovery, but she'll need to get plenty of rest. She's sleeping right now, but should be awake in a few hours."

"When can we see her?" Elliot asked impatiently.

"We're moving her to a private room right now. After we have her settled, you can sit with her one at a time until she wakes up. You can head up to the third floor and I'll have someone come get you once she's settled in her room."

"Thank-you doctor," Cragen said.

As the doctor walked away, Elliot informed his family and friends, "I'm going to stay with her."

"We wouldn't expect anything else, Dad," Maureen replied.

Kathy spoke next, "I'm glad she's okay, Elliot, but I need to get the kids home to get some sleep." She moved in to give her ex-husband hug, whispering in his ear, "Don't waste any more time, tell her." When the pulled apart they both had slight smiles on their faces.

"I will, don't worry."

He hugged and said good-bye to each of his five children and they left with their mother. Elliot turned to face his friends.

Cragen was the first to speak up, "We're all heading home to get some sleep before work too, but make sure to call us if you need us. Oh and I don't want to see you at work today or tomorrow at the very least."

Elliot agreed not to go to work and said good-bye to everyone as they left, before heading up to the third floor.